Photograph of a Reception Hall in the Palace at Junagadh in Gujarat, taken by F. Nelson in the 1890s. The album is inscribed: “With best compliments from H.H. Rasulkhanji, Nawab of Junagadh (India)” and was formerly in the collection of Sir William Lee-Warner (1846-1912), who served in the Indian Civil Service and was a Member of the Council of India between 1902 and 1912.

Junagadh lies close to the important Jain pilgrimage site of Girnar Hill and the Ashokan rock edicts of 250 BC. The town itself has a rich architectural heritage, its most ancient sites being Buddhist and Jain caves in the environs of the Uparkot, a citadel dating from the 4th century BC. More recent monuments include the mausoleums of the state’s Muslim rulers, the Babi Dynasty, and civic and royal buildings dating from the 18th to the early 20th centuries which mix European Gothic and local Indo-Islamic styles. Junagadh was particularly developed and improved during the reign of the Nawab Mahabat Khan II (ruled 1851-1882), who constructed a series of new palaces, public buildings and parks. This is a view of the interior of a grand reception hall, probably the Durbar Kacheri Hall in the principal palace complex. The room is furnished with silver chairs and a crystal table in the foreground and the ceiling hung with many chandeliers.